It's a job many Californians know little about, but the person who holds it is a heartbeat away from the governor's office.

And while most statewide attention this election season is on the race for governor or the U.S. Senate, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado are locked in a fierce tussle for the state's No. 2 job in a race that some political analysts say is defying convention.

"It's not the same dynamics as the governor's race or the Senate race," said Barbara O'Connor, a Cal State Sacramento political communications professor emeritus. "It's got different characteristics."

That's in large part because of who the candidates are, analysts said.

In a statewide race that's often an afterthought decided by party affiliation and name recognition, these candidates' identities could upend that model.

Even in a crowded election year, the profile has been raised. Newsom joined former President Bill Clinton for two appearances with Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown last weekend, and Maldonado got national media exposure serving as acting governor during the San Bruno gas pipeline explosion last month.

"The lieutenant governor's race is usually a snooze, but this one is getting more attention than I've seen in the past," said Nathan Ballard, a Democratic strategist and former Newsom spokesman. "Part of it is because Gavin Newsom does have a superstar quality. ... You haven't seen Bill Clinton playing an active role in a lieutenant governor's race before."

Name recognition alone may not be such an advantage, though. Also, the stark political differences of years past are blunted by two candidates who have accomplishments in the political center. However, both have painted their opponent as too radical for mainstream Californians.

"You do not have that very clear left-right decision for a voter," said Reed Galen, a Republican political strategist, adding that Newsom was still "a far more Democratic establishment" figure.

There clearly are two very different candidates in terms of leadership style, "philosophies on the role of government and family orientation," O'Connor said.

Distinguishing differences

Maldonado, a Santa Barbara County agro-businessman and the son of immigrant farm workers from Mexico, is a moderate Republican who has bucked his party on key issues, like casting the deciding vote for last year's state budget in exchange for a ballot measure on open primaries. But he has also voted against domestic partnerships and received failing grades from the League of Conservation Voters and the state's Planned Parenthood affiliate for votes on environmental protections and a woman's right to choose an abortion.

"I'm a family man first," Maldonado, 43, said during a recent debate in Silicon Valley. "I'm a Californian second. Third, we can talk about political parties."

He's the incumbent, but he has only held office for about five months after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed the then-state senator to fill the seat vacated when Democrat John Garamendi was elected to Congress. Democrats in the Legislature delayed Maldonado's confirmation for more than 150 days, the longest confirmation process in the state's history.

Newsom, 43, is the urbane and tech-savvy environmental visionary who shot onto the national political scene in 2004 by championing same-sex marriage. Seen by some as the embodiment of wacky San Francisco liberalism, he has consistently pushed pro-business policies and fiscal responsibility, while holding the line on taxes.

Still considered a rising star in the Democratic Party with his eye on higher office, Newsom's reputation has been smirched by an affair with an aide, an alcohol problem, his occasional petulance with the media, and a run for governor aborted a year ago.

The 'lite gov'

The two candidates are vying for a four-year term in a largely ceremonial post derided in political circles as the "lite gov." Even Newsom acknowledged in a December radio interview he knew little about the office, saying: "What does the lieutenant governor do? For the life of me, I don't know."

Newsom is campaigning for an office short on direct power by saying he will bring "authentic and audacious leadership" to champion a new green-collar economy that marries job creation with environmental protection.

Maldonado bills himself as the guy who can bridge the partisan divide. "When you talk about a person who can bring people together, you're looking at him."

Running neck and neck

Despite the latest figures from the secretary of state showing Democrats with a 2.3 million edge over the GOP in registered voters, a Field Poll released in late September had Newsom and Maldonado locked in a near dead heat, with Newsom's once nine-point lead slipping to four points - within the poll's margin of error.

Newsom, with strong financial backing from unions, has out-raised Maldonado by almost 2 to 1, campaign finance documents show. Maldonado's biggest contribution was a $100,000 loan to himself.

"This is going to be a tough race; I've said that from the beginning," Newsom said recently.

The latest Field Poll suggests that while Newsom may be more widely known, 41 percent of likely voters held an unfavorable opinion of him, compared with only 17 percent for Maldonado.

Galen, the Republican strategist, said Maldonado was far better positioned to tap into independent and Latino voters who traditionally may have voted Democratic.

Maldonado could also draw newer voters with little knowledge about down-ballot candidates who historically have backed a Democrat, O'Connor said.

"There are people who view San Francisco as anathema," she said, "and people who view (Newsom) as the typical San Francisco mayor - I don't think accurately - but that's what people think."

Where the candidates stand

Proposition 23, which would suspend AB32, California's landmark emissions reduction law, until the unemployment rate falls to 5.5 percent or less for a year.

Abel Maldonado: Opposes.

Gavin Newsom: Opposes.

AB32, which aims to reduce carbon emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2020.

Maldonado: Voted against AB32 while in the Legislature. Supports a one-year or longer moratorium on its implementation if forthcoming regulations will cost the state jobs.

Newsom: "AB32 is a godsend for the economy of this state and this nation" because it will spur green-collar jobs.

Immigration reform

Maldonado: Supports comprehensive immigration reform, including a guest-worker program, but blames San Francisco for making other lawmakers reluctant to strike a deal. Appeared with former Gov. Pete Wilson during the 1994 campaign for the anti-immigrant Prop. 187, which would have cut services to those in the United States illegally. In recent weeks, he said he voted against Prop. 187: "Just because you stand with a governor doesn't mean you can (be associated) with it." But in 1998, the Associated Press reported Maldonado said he voted for Prop. 187.

Newsom: Supports comprehensive immigration reform and wants H-1B visa restrictions lifted for knowledge workers. Notes that about 30 other California cities have sanctuary policies. Says San Francisco's law, approved in 1989, was never designed to shield criminals. In July 2008, he changed a sanctuary policy, in place for a decade, and started alerting immigration officials to juveniles suspected of felonies when arrested (adults were already reported).